


Shit I think My Roommate’s a Crime Lord

by heybabybird



Series: Shit I think My Roommate’s a Crime Lord [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Civilian!Tim, College AU, Gen, Identity Porn, Jason Todd is Red Hood, M/M, Not So Secret Identity, Snippets and Drabbles, Sort Of, and they were roommates!, oh my god they were roommates, pre slash, this is dumb hahaha ha, tim drake is sleep depried college student, you can read this as bromance or romance it's up to yall tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-01-28 22:10:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21399460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heybabybird/pseuds/heybabybird
Summary: Tim is 99% sure his roommate is the Red Hood.
Relationships: Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Series: Shit I think My Roommate’s a Crime Lord [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816756
Comments: 67
Kudos: 1008





	1. Week?

**Author's Note:**

> I swear most of my drabbles comes up like 5 minutes before I fall asleep so they're mostly dumb aus where the boys are in dumb scenarios likes these dkfjskfjdf

Tim is 99% sure his roommate is the Red Hood. The other 1% being him giving the other the benifits of the doubt but, yeah.

It’s not like Jason is bad at hiding it. In fact, the fact that Jason ‘Hey-Tim-I-Have-A-Normal-Night-Job-So-Don’t-Stay-Up-Too-Late-Waiting-Haha’ Todd, his roommate, is so normal, was what threw Tim off in the first place. Normal? In this day at age? Absolutely suspicious especially in _Gotham _of all places.

There are times when Tim is asleep(or for the lack of better words, _trying _to sleep), he could have sworn he heard the window opening and someone landing on the floor with a soft thud. And then there’s the_ clink clank_ of something jiggling around in someone’s pockets(bullets?).

Jason’s side of the room always smells like motor oil, _Jason _always smells like motor oil. Tim knows about Jason’s obsession with tinkering with his bike but there’ll be suspecious oil stains on his desk from _something_. Tim jokes that Jason drinks them for breakfast but that’s just silly.

Once, when Tim went after a cheeto he dropped he found a bloodstained shirt stashed under Jason’s bed. There’s also this weird scratched up (empty)briefcase and a pair of muddy combat boots hidden away in a corner. It’s not the first and last time he found weird things in their room but they would always disappear the next day.

But really the icing on the cake was Jason’s siblings; Dick likes to show off his backflips to the other college kids on the floor and he just moves in a very specific way that’s eerily screams Nightwing, Cass gives him a heart attack everytime she suddenly appeared into the room out of nowhere like a damn ninja and Damian… Damian made it his mission to harrass Jason with his sword(and Tim’s 98% sure it’s a real sword) at least once at any random time/location of the week. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together.

So yeah, Tim is 99% sure his roommate is the Red Hood. The other 1% being him giving the other the benifits of the doubt.


	2. Week ?(Sunday + Monday + Tuesday)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah, I'm really happy you guys enjoyed this!!TwT I have a few more snippets plan for this AU hehe

**Sunday**

It was near midnight when Red Hood swooped down from the rooftops, landing infront of Tim with a hard thud. The vigilante landed a kick in the mugger’s abdomen, the offending character didn’t think twice before fleeing the scene, dropping a wallet in the process which Hood picked up and dusted.

“Here-” Hood held it out to Tim, keeping a distance away from him. He accepted it with a nod. 

“Thanks.”

“No problem. You’re awfully calm for someone that was just held at knifepoint, kid.”

Truthfully Tim wasn’t too bothered about loosing his wallet, he only carried enough cash for public transportation and maybe a slice of pizza along with a dozen old receipts shoved inside. The worst part was that he couldn’t enter the dorms without his student ID and had to wait a few hours for his roommate to get back.

His roommate that he’s 99% sure that had just saved him from being mugged.

“Well, I had an interesting childhood. Besides, he looked like he was going to book it after getting my wallet. ”

Up close, Tim could see that the man was tensed. He’d imagine underneath the helmet obscuring his face, Hood was probably was staring right at him and judging his lack of self preservation.

“You should probably uh, head home.”

“Yeah, I was about to. I don’t usually stayed out this late.”

“It’s probably wise to avoid this area at night, there’s another well-lit road that takes you where you want to go just two blocks away.”

“Yes, I supposed. But how’d you know where I’m heading, Mr. Hood?” 

“...See you around, random citizen.”

**Monday**

Dick stopped by earlier that day to bring Jason some fresh laundry. He then decided to kidnap Tim for lunch because Jason happened to have test that afternoon.

They ended up at the nice little bistro on campus. Lunch with Dick Grayson was a whole experiance because Tim had been a fanboy since the elder’s Flying Grayson days and then, Robin(but that’s another secret he keeps to himself). And now they’re just casually having a burger, swapping stories about his roommate. How wild is that?

“Hey, you loosers still here.”

Said roommate did eventually joined them. He looked exhausted; dark curls mussed and glasses slightly askew. Jason tossed his books on the table and immediently reached out to steal his brother’s fries. Dick pushed the plate towards Jason, a wide grin spread across his cheeks as he sat down next to Tim.

“Little Wing! I was just telling Timmy how you and Bruce met!”

“You jacked Bruce Wayne’s car?” Tim chortle, completely awestruck.

“What. What the fuck, Dickhead. Why would you tell him that?!”

“You _jacked _Bruce Wayne’s car and he _adopts _you? Holy shit, Jay-Jay.”

“Yeah well he had some loose screws in the head, not my fault the old man’s got some serious case of empty nest syndrome.”

“Why did you never tell me that? I thought we were close.” Tim, gasping dramatically, puts a hand over his heart and feign hurt. Jason laughed and smacked him lightly on the arm. Dick never got his fries back.

**Tuesday**

“You should take a break.”

“No can do,Tim Tam, I got three more tests this week and a whole week’s worth of crap to catch up to.”

“What about your nightjob?”

“What about it?”

“Jay, I caught you adding salt to your coffee and you left your muddy boots in the middle of the room again. How much did you sleep this week? You won’t be able to function properly tonight, you’re exhausted, and that’s rich coming from _me_.”

Because Jason have the tendency to leave hazardous objects lyring around when he’s tired to the bones, Tim had suffered and complained about nearly tripping over them in the morning. Muddy boots weren’t the worst things to give him a rude wake up call though, he recalled falling face first into a pile of questionable laundry once and ended up needing a shower because- _Thank you, Jason!_\- it made him smelled like he went dumpster diving.

There were notes spewed all over Jason’s usually neat desk, a mug of cold coffee sat untouched and reduced to paperweight at a corner, his glasses were slipping, so Tim yanked them off and wrestled the taller man to bed.

“Hey!”

Tim had frowned but made no comment to his roommate’s obvious limp. The Red Hood was going to get himself killed one day, going into the field injured and sleep deprived.

“One nap, I’ll wake you up before your uh, shift.”

“Fine.” It was surprisingly easy, Jason’s body relaxed the moment he hit the sheets. Maybe he realized just how tired he was, but he made no attempts to stifled a yawn and buried himself into his comforter. “Sorry about the boots.”

It was never about the boots.


	3. Week ?(Wednesday + Thursday + Friday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This is a dream, go back to sleep.”

**Wednesday**

A rustling sound rouse Tim from sleep. He rubbed his eye, slowly adjusting them to the darkness to find a tall figure climbing through the window. Their eyes(?) met and the intruder froze. Tim’s brain had rebooted itself twice before anything even remotely made sense because _of course_, this is his life now.

Hood remained unmoving, with one foot through the window and half his body outside. Tim continue to sqint at the man, the crackling of the lighting illuminated their surrounding, allowing Tim to catch a glimpse of the duffle bag over the other’s shoulder. It was sort of like a scene out of a slasher film and he had half a mind not to scream. For a brief momemnt he thought Hood would just knock him out with a tranquilizer gun but the machine-like voice supplied a worst cover up than he would had imagined.

“This is a dream, go back to sleep.”

_What the fuck._

Tim pretended to yawn, letting his eyelids slip shut as he burrowed himself back into his comforter. He settled on his side, back facing the elephant in the room. Everything was quiet for a moment and then he heard the window shuts, followed by strings of soft cussing.

How the _hell _was he supposed to go back to sleep?

**Thursday**

Jason was sick.

It was barely noon when Tim returned from his morning classes, surprised to find his roommate in. Their shared bulletin board have both their schduels pinned and- Oh, wait. That was yesterday’s. Jason’s scot free of any more tests until Monday again.

Tim dumped his bag on the nearest avaliable surface. He noticed the muddy boots were back, stuffed into a corner on Jason’s side of the room. Tim thought back on Tuesday and it was sweet of his roommate to remember.

“Timmy,” Jason croaked, body sprawled out and limbs drapped lazily over the side of his bed. “I feel like shit.”

“You look like shit. Did you walked back in the rain?”

“Yea.”

“I told you to take it easy, you never listen.”

“You’re not my ma.” Jason scoffed. “Can you grab me somethin’ from the cafeteria? I don’t think I can get up.”

“Sure. Want me to call anyone? Dick?”

“If you do I’m jumpin’ out that window.” Tim nearly laughed at the irony of that but nodded in understanding, Dick can be a bit too much sometimes.

Thursday meant empanadas at the cafeteria, Tim grabbed enough to feed the both of them and then swiped a can of chicken soup from the communal kitchen; having long mastered the ways of making meals in his coffee pot. And maybe he did felt a bit guilty for making Jason linger outside the window for longer than he needed so he’s low key obligated to do something nice for the poor guy.

“Hey, Jay! I’m back- are you crying?”

“N-No! Shut up, I’m havin’ a moment!”

“Oh my god, you _are_\- what are you- Is that…” Tim squints at the screen. “Is that Fairytopia?”

“It’s _Mermaidia, _you uncultured swine_._ Now get your skinny ass over here I need a shoulder to cry on.”

**Friday**

Tim is no longer fazed when Damian barges into the room with a weapon but Cass still spooks him when she does that ninja thing. Somehow Jason’s siblings had found out about his bedridden status and decided to drop in unannounced(as per usual). As Tim didn’t have class on Fridays he had no excuses to escape Dick’s cries of ‘Why didn’t you tell me he was sickkk!’ and Damian’s ‘Todd you fool, insert words, insert anger, hidden concern’.

Also they brought soup, courtesy of Alfred.

“Who even told you guys?”

“You didn’t show up at work last night. Your boss was worried.”

“Oh, wow. Let me guess, _he _asked you guys to check up on me?”

Batman. They’re talking about _Batman_. Cass sat down next to him and smiled, the two of them watching the brothers bickered back and forth in shared silence. He looked relaxed, happy even, until Damian attempted to wrestle him to lie down and rest. It was at that moment Tim realize he’s in a room full of trained vigilante and suddenly he felt very out of place.

When evening rolled around it was time for them to leave. Cass gave Jason a big hug but he refused to take one from Dick after the man ruffled his hair affectionately. Damian relayed to Tim a list of strict instructions on how to take care of the ill as a parting gift(which Jason scoffed at, but Tim thought it was kinda sweet), right before their eldest brother hurdled them out.

Throughout the day Jason’s siblings weren’t the only ones that dropped by to see him, no. There’s that redhaired man with the gross looking hat, Tim remembered seeing him tinkering with Jason on their bikes, he had his phone out so a lady in a purple dress can mother him from wherever she is.

They started another Barbie marathon and went through the canister of soup(it was wayyy better than his coffee pot one). Roy was pressed up against Jason’s side, making snarky comments every so often throughout the movie. Tim on his other side idly scrolling through his phone.

“It’s magical so shut the fuck up, Roy.”

“Underneath all that rough and gruff you’re just a big baby.”

Tim smiled and _oh_. 

Everything’s going to be ok.


	4. Week ?(Saturday + Sunday(again))

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim knew how to keep a secret. Of course he do, he kept /Batman’s/ secret for a whole decade afterall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done!! I don't want to drag the series on because I feel myself loosing ideas... I hope this is satisfying ending enough for everyone! T__T If you liked it please leave a comment! I also have a tumblr where I post other short drabbles and doodles from time to time, feel free to talk to me about jaytim if you want! :DD

**Saturday**

When Tim woke up Jason was gone. He checked the board, noting the red post-it note on his roommate’s side today. Though written haisty, it told him Jason was feeling better and had to tend to some ‘family emergrncy’ Tim knew was an excuse for bat business. Jason avoided his family if he could

His phone had been going off all morning with discussion of the latest Arkham break out- the first one since he’d moved back to Gotham-, Tim can only assumed it was an all hands on deck situation. A quick check on a news site and social media confirms his suspicion. Batman and Robin were spotted earlier that day and there were even blurry pictures speculate to be Nightwing, Batgirl or Black Bat. Even Red Hood and Star City’s Arsenal were trending on twitter! 

The more logical part of his brain concludes that he should stay home until the whole shitshow is over but Tim’s inner fanboy was _screaming_. He had spent a majority of his childhood trailing Batman and Robin all over the rooftops of Gotham, camera clutched tightly in his tiny hands. His fingers itches to capture Gotham’s vigilante in action; it had been _too _long.

For the most part of the day Tim was having the time of his life, having captured a great picture of Batgirl tag teaming with Nightwing to take down Killer Croc. It soon became apparent local gangs were taking advantage of the fiasco to transport a large shipment of illegal firearms. Tim shadowed the two large men until they came to a warehouse, listening in to their conversation. The ferry was scheduled to leave at dawn tomorrow, disguised as an international courier serice. He qickly snapped a few photos with his phone and forward it to the GCPD as an anonymous tip.

Heavy footprints appraoch where he was hiding. Without a secon’d thought, Tim ducked inside a shipping container, crouched between two crates to be hidden from view. His breathing shallow, too afraid to make any small amount of noise that’d draw attention. The men outside were shuffling about, loading more crates into the container. His blood ran cold when the door slammed shut. _Shit_.

Tim knew how to keep a secret. Of course he do, he kept _Batman’s _secret for a whole decade afterall. He’s also really good at playing oblivious to the elephant in the room but god, sometimes Jason comes up with the worst excuses ever. He rejoiced over the fact he still have bars and thought over the possible outcome if he were to text his roommate for help, unquestionably it means letting the cat out of the bag. Maybe Batman would let him off easy and erase his memories with those memory erasing stick thingy, or have him sign an NDA.

Tim only hope the GCPD took his tip and bust the scene, then he’d bang the door for help... Or not.

After contemplating for what felt like an hour, Tim decides he really really doesn’t want to risk getting shipped off and die in the middle of the alantic ocean from malnourishment. He opened a message app, suddenly realized that Jason might not be checking his usual phone at all, but sent a quick SOS just in case.

Now all he have to do is... wait.

**Sunday(again)**

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I’ll get you outta there.”

“Mr. Hood, uh, I’m really sorry about this. Actually, you can probably just leave me here I’m sure the GCPD will get me out sooner or later-”

“Tim, shut the _fuck _up- Stand back.”

“Okay. Shutting up now.”

“This is two Sundays in a row I had to bust your ass out of trouble, Babybird,” Red Hood mused, sucessfully opening the crate Tim was trapped in, “you should probably stay in on weekends.”

“I- wait, what?” Tim squints at the sudden glare of sunlight. 

“Alright! Out of the birdcage, let’s get you home.”

Tim recalled the first time he met Jason Todd, officially; he’d been running on two hours of sleep and double that amount of coffee when the taller man knocked on their door and introduced himself as the new roomie. Tim was starstruck because that’s _Robin_. _His _Robin! While he had a fair amount of photos of Dick’s Robin in action, Tim have many, so much many more candid photos of Jason’s Robin tripping or nearly swinging into things.They were safely stashed away in a secret compartment in his childhood bedroom, to this day still collecting dust until someone uncovers them again.

When Jason died little Tim was devastated, it was also around the time his parents decided to ship him off to boarding school. By the time he returned there seems to be an influx of Bat-clan vigilante, too many to keep track of.

And somehow Jason was alive again to the public.

Tim wasn’t sure if he was even awake and not, you know- dreaming, and blurted out: “I’m your biggest fan,” the moment words were working again. Jason looked at him oodly, eyebrow crooked in a questioning manner.

“Thanks? What’d I do?”

_Shit_.

“Shit. Sorry. Jason Todd, right? I follow your twitter,” Tim offered a small grin, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “that charity foundation you were working on, I mean- I find that really inspiring. I’m Tim.”

“Oh. Hey, thanks. Nice to meetcha, Tim.”

That was... a nearly year ago.

Now he felt that same brand of embarrassment standing in a shipping container at the crack of dawn, surrounded by crates and crates of ammunition while his vigilante roommate had just taken down an entire gang to save his ass.

The Red Hood strongly insist on accompanying Tim home, something he was extremly thankful for and they quickly hightailed out of there before the police arrived. It’s been quiet when they rode back on Hood’s bike, an unspoken agreement that neither wants to talk about this.

Granted, he didn’t realized his legs were jello until later on. In front of student lodging Tim lunged for a hug, to which Hood’s body froze, hands clutched tightly onto the leather material of his jacket; the sharp scent of motor oil and gunpowder were oddly comforting.

“Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All chapters are on tumblr here!:  
[Part 1](https://heybabybird.tumblr.com/post/189009069119/shit-i-think-my-roommates-a-crime-lord)  
[Part 2](https://heybabybird.tumblr.com/post/189077515514/shit-i-think-my-roommates-a-crime-lord-2)  
[Part 3](https://heybabybird.tumblr.com/post/189109378049/shit-i-think-my-roommates-a-crime-lord-3)  
[Part 4](https://heybabybird.tumblr.com/post/189309532784/shit-i-think-my-roommates-a-crime-lord-4end)  
Comments are appreciated! :D
> 
> Some other headcannons and interesting point:  
\- tim's message to jason was 'stuck in shipping container, might be dead tomorrow. help :")' along with the location/details and some picture attached  
\- jason got home around 1 in the morning, passed out for a few hour and checked his phone  
\- he panicked and rushed to the docks just in time to get tim out  
\- no one told batman what happened, tim continues to play oblivious, jason is frustrated but he /knows/ tim knows but won't say anything because of the betting pool(tm)*  
\- tim was trapped for nearly 16 hours  
\- he woke up in jason's bed because they were huddled together watching barbie movies until they fell asleep(roy included, he went back after helping the bats)  
\- cass knows tim knows, she'd probably won the pool if she decides to bet but it's more fun to watch
> 
> *the batkids have a betting pool on how long it'd take for jason to compromise his identity, they all lost bc tim already knows

**Author's Note:**

> All chapters are on tumblr here!:  
[Part 1](https://heybabybird.tumblr.com/post/189009069119/shit-i-think-my-roommates-a-crime-lord)  
[Part 2](https://heybabybird.tumblr.com/post/189077515514/shit-i-think-my-roommates-a-crime-lord-2)  
[Part 3](https://heybabybird.tumblr.com/post/189109378049/shit-i-think-my-roommates-a-crime-lord-3)  
[Part 4](https://heybabybird.tumblr.com/post/189309532784/shit-i-think-my-roommates-a-crime-lord-4end)
> 
> Comments are appreciated! :D  
edit: tumblr post now comes with a list of headcannons!


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